Road Trip
by uchihaotakuhime
Summary: SasuHina. A reluctant Sasuke and hesitant Hinata agree to take a trip together down to visit Naruto's school. A shy, awkward, and silent road trip turns into an adventure of getting to know each other. When they finally reach their destination, how will they sort out their feelings?
1. Chapter 1

There were two things Sasuke was overly picky about. One of them was how neat and tidy he kept his dorm room at Fire Country University. Every Sunday was cleaning day, no matter how much shit he had to do that following week. He vacuumed every inch of the carpet, bleached every little tile on the floor and counter in the bathroom _and_ in the mini kitchenette, windexed every glass surface, dusted every little nook and cranny, and threw every piece of dirty laundry lying around on the floor into the washer and dryer, whether it was his or not. He was the perfect little housewife, which was a plus for his roommate, lazy Nara Shikamaru, who never had to lift a finger.

The other was who he let in the vicinity of his car. His car had been a present from his father for his birthday, thanks to his older brother's talents of convincing. It was a matte black BMW 2016 M4 Coupe with 425 horsepower, black leather interior, black turbine wheels, and black tinted windows (1). It was a sexy ass car. It was the love of his life. The only people he had ever driven in his car was his mother, father, and brother. He took it out _only_ when he was traveling back home and used Itachi's hand-me-down bike for around the campus and campus town. He never, _ever_ let anyone else touch its surface and he personally took the responsibility of washing, waxing, and buffing his baby.

So when Naruto asked Sasuke to drive his girlfriend with him on his way to visit him at College of Konoha over spring break, he had not been too happy about it.

"Pretty pleeeeeeeeease, you're already driving this way, temeeeee!" his best friend had whined to him over Skype. "It'll be the greatest thing ever! My best friend _and_ my girlfriend!"

"I don't even know her like that!" Sasuke had growled, toweling his damp hair in one hand and holding his phone in the other. He could see Naruto playing Until Dawn (2) in the background with his own roommate, Inuzuka Kiba. "Do you know how fucking awkward this car ride is gonna be? It's gonna take one whole week to get there (3)."

Shikamaru meandered into the room at that moment. "Didn't your fathers know each other?"

"Well, yeah," he had responded after a quick, welcome back nod. "But that's all."

"No no no no no no-fucking hell!" Naruto cursed, throwing his controller at Kiba who crowed with laughter in response. Sasuke saw the blond reach for the laptop and turn it square towards his face. "You'll know her when you see her. She's clean and she's quiet; she won't be a bother! Oh, hey, Shikamaru!"

The Nara turned from grabbing a cold can of coffee in the fridge and waved. "Hey, Naruto."

Sasuke groaned. "Why am I visiting you again?"

"Cuz you looooove me!" Naruto had crooned with a cheeky grin.

Sasuke flipped him off. "Fuck you."

Naruto was in the middle of returning the favor when a new feminine, voice was heard. "Is that Sasuke-kun?" it asked hopefully.

Sasuke fought to suppress an eye-roll. A new face with pink hair pushed to obscure the screen. "Hi, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squealed. Her green eyes glittered with excitement and she pressed her face against Naruto's, trying to get into the camera's view.

"Hi," he grunted.

"How are you-"

He gave a forced grin. "Alright, I gotta go. See ya."

Sakura's face fell. "But-"

"So are you gonna do it, teme?" Naruto blurted quickly before Sasuke could end the call.

"Whatever, just text me later." Sasuke pressed the red button on his phone quickly before throwing the phone on the couch. He sighed. He hadn't been home for a long time, since he had chosen to work over all his summer, winter, and spring vacations the past few years at the school. And whenever he was home, Naruto had been on vacations with his godfather, Jiraiya, so he hadn't seen much of his best friend in a while. They had finally planned to be off at the same time and promised to hang out, although he had grumbled a bit at first at Naruto's suggestion.

Shikamaru looked at his roommate sympathetically from his desk. "She's not bad."

"You've met her?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah," the other brunet nodded. "Although, I don't know how someone as chill as her ended up with someone like Naruto."

Sasuke snorted. "I honestly don't know."

And that's how Sasuke ended up parked in front of the girl's dorm cursing his luck as girls started swarming his car.

"Ohmygod, who is that?"

"Is it someone famous?"

"Let's go take a picture!"

"It's an Uchiha! Look at that family emblem on that decal!"

"Great. Just fucking great," he muttered angrily. He had just washed his car and now they were getting their greedy, thirsty little fingerprints all over it! "Goddammit." He shrunk lower in his seat, thankful that the swarm of girls couldn't see who he was through the tinted windows, and dialed the number Naruto had texted him. "Pick up, pick up, pick up..."

"H-hello?" a delicate voice answered.

"Uh, I'm here," he said, pushing his aviators up higher on his nose.

"Is that you? In the...car with all those girls?" the girl sounded a little panicked.

"Yeah, do you have a lot of stuff?" Sasuke asked, groaning inwardly at the fact that he might have to actually step out of the car to help put her shit inside.

"No, I just have one bag and my backpack." She paused. "What should I do?"

 _THUMP_

"Fuck!" Sasuke jumped as one of the girls pressed their face against the driver's side window, trying to get a glimpse of who was inside. He fumbled with his car keys, trying to start the car.

"S-Sasuke-kun? Um, there's a back entrance. If you want to start driving there, I'll just hop in real quick so that no one-"

"Let's do it," Sasuke revved his engine. "Go now." He smirked a little as the girls backed off in surprise at the car's roar. "I'm heading there."

He heard her squeak in surprise and then sounds of rustling as he imagined her throwing her phone in a purse or pocket and running. He glanced outside and grimaced as the girls were keeping pace with his slow crawl. Sasuke didn't want to be caught in a lawsuit for injuring one of these rich girls. As he neared the back entrance, he picked up his speed, breaking free from the crowd. He saw a dark head sprinting towards the car and, concluding it to be Naruto's girlfriend, unlocked the car. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," he chanted, eyeing the closeness of those girls behind him.

The door flew open and a petite body threw itself into the car. As soon as he heard her skin touch the leather seat, Sasuke re-locked the car doors and sped off.

He let out a long sigh, silently congratulating himself. Then he noticed that body in his periphery was still frozen so he finally turned his attention to her. Her bright, opal eyes were as wide as a deer caught in the headlights, accentuated by thick, dark lashes that matched the color of her long, midnight-blue hair. He could see strands that were stuck to her lip and pink cheeks from her frenzied run, and her pale, white skin was even whiter at the knuckles where she was clutching at her bags. Overall, she wasn't bad to look at.

"What's wrong?"

Then he noticed that he was going about 120 miles per hour. Oh. He eased his foot off the gas a little. "Sorry."

"I-t's o-okay," she responded with a strained voice, loosening her grip on her duffel bag.

"You can put that on the floor. I'll stop in a bit so you can put your stuff in the trunk."

She let out a shaky breath. "Okay, thanks." She moved to place her bags on the floor in front of her.

"Anyway. I'm Uchiha Sasuke," he said with a shrug. "But you already know that."

"Hinata. Hyuuga Hinata." she gave him a shy smile. "Thank you so much for driving me, Sasuke-kun." Hinata reached up to grab her seatbelt.

"Don't mention it," Sasuke muttered. He grabbed his phone and starting thumbing through his Spotify playlists, glancing up to check the road now and again as the Hyuuga settled in comfortably in her seat. "So what kind of music do you not like?"

She bit her lip thoughtfully. "Um, country, I guess?"

And so it began.

* * *

 _(1) Looool I know nothing about cars X) sorry_

 _(2) Or video games haha_

 _(3) I'm imagining Sasuke's and Naruto's hometown/College of Konoha to be in Konoha's actual village. Fire Country University is somewhere far, far away across the country where the daimyo lives in actual Naruto universe. idk bear with me here lol. It's supposed to be a week-long road trip so that this story is actually a story, okay? Gotta make it work somehow._


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I hope you all don't mind short chapters._

* * *

They had started off the first hour listening to Sasuke's EDM playlist. They hadn't exchanged many words after their initial meeting. He had caught her bobbing her head to the music and her hand moving delicately in time with the bass from the corner of his eye when he decided she wasn't that lame if she found his music entertaining and not grating on the ears. It was only the first day out of about a week-long trip, depending on how fast he drove, and they had to start talking at some point, so finally he asked her about herself.

What he had actually said was, "I see you have Baymax as your wallpaper. Do you like Big Hero 6 better than Zootopia (1)?"

She had looked at him in surprise and amusement and she gripped her phone a little tighter and more protectively. "Actually, Zootopia the best animated movie I've seen in the last 5 years." Hinata gave him a curious stare, as if asking "Uchiha Sasuke watches Disney animated movies?" to herself. "I just like the idea of having my own personal healthcare companion right next to me at all times, I guess. What about you?"

"It beats Frozen, that's for sure," he had shrugged.

"I agree." Hinata nodded. She asked suspiciously, "Do you have something against princesses?"

He side-eyed her and smirked, reaching over to adjust the AC. "Only if you give me a reason to, princess."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I actually have a job, thank you very much. The only princess here is you." She huffed and sat back a little straighter in her seat.

Sasuke almost laughed out loud in surprise at her response. _Snarky little one, is she_? He had imagined her being a little more demure and respectful, especially during the last hour. "Hold up. I do, too, you know."

"Being Orochimaru-sensei's TA hardly qualifies as a job," she sniffed.

"Does too," he insisted a little too strongly. He was rather proud of it. It was his first job and he didn't have to depend too much on his father for the little things. "It pays, doesn't it?"

"It doesn't count if you don't lose any sleep because of it," Hinata reached up to put her hair in a loose ponytail high on her head.

"And you do?" Sasuke countered.

"I'm not spoiled, you know. Although me attending this school may seem otherwise," she had thrown back, an edge in her normally soft voice. It was obviously a touchy subject. "A huge part of my tuition comes from my own pocket and getting good grades, which is why I can't afford a car of my own, thank you very much."

Sasuke realized it was easier to talk to her compared to other people because she didn't just agree with everything he said, unlike a lot of other people. It was probably because she didn't see the need in trying to put on a show or to impress him. After all, she wasn't wearing any make-up or wearing any flashy clothes. He was just Naruto's best friend to her. That made him even more comfortable with her. Thus, over the next few hours, he learned quite a lot about her. Hinata majored in business, like him. She practiced mixed martial arts and specialized in judo. She loved yoga and ballet and taught a part-time pilates class on top of waitressing at the college cafe, volunteering at the nearby hospital, and babysitting for her teacher. Her favorite colors were white and lavender. She was resolute in her opinions and didn't bend easily - and that's probably why she and Naruto had clicked.

Yeah. He could deal with her.

They stopped a few times to gas up and use the restroom, but the conversation had flowed effortlessly after that.

It was about midnight when Hinata had sighed during a pause in their conversation. "You can't drive the whole way, you know. You have to sleep sometime." She had caught Sasuke fighting a yawn.

"I'm fine." Sasuke's eye was twitching. He gripped the wheel a little tighter.

"I won't crash your car."

"That's right, because nobody is driving my car," he growled. "Except for me."

"Suit yourself," Hinata muttered, adjusting herself so that she was leaning against the passenger window. She closed her eyes and let herself fall asleep to lull of The Weeknd's voice.

* * *

Sasuke reluctantly pulled over to the side of the road when he couldn't keep his eyes open. He had tried keeping himself awake by reciting the Periodic Table in order, plus the atomic mass and the number of neutrons of each element, but he couldn't do it anymore. He was starting to nod off. They wouldn't pass a rest stop for a long time, so there was no place for him to get any type of caffeine of some sort. "Alright. I can't," he admitted in exasperation, throwing the car into park.

Hinata somehow knew the car was stopped because her eyes fluttered open. "Huh?" she asked sleepily, blinking a few times.

"Let's switch."

"O-Oh. Okay." She reached over to unbuckle her seatbelt.

Sasuke paused at the backside of the car before getting into the passenger seat and patted his car lovingly. "It's okay," he whispered, although whether he was talking to himself or the car, he wasn't entirely sure. "It'll be only for a little while."

"Is it okay if I listen to my music?" she asked when they both settled into their seat. She was busy adjusting the mirrors and the driver's seat to her liking.

He had put his own seat down into more of a reclining position. "Yeah. Wake me up in three hours." Sasuke fished his headphones out of his backpack and plugged it into his phone. Before he finished placing it over his ears, he said with a warning glare, "Do NOT get into a car accident."

"Yessir," she said under her breath.

* * *

He woke up a few hours later to her singing to Whitney Houston.

"I don't really need to look very much further (2). I don't want to have to go where you don't follow. I will hold it back again," she gripped her chest. "This passion inside. I can't run from myself, there's nowhere to hiiiiide." Hinata pumped a fist in time with the music. "Your love I remember forever!"

"Don't make me cloooose, one more door. I don't want to huuuuurt anymoooore," her eyebrows turned down as she sang passionately.

Sasuke continued to stare at her in amusement, taking his headphones off and putting them around his neck. The early morning light was starting to hit them, so it looked like she had her very own spotlight on her.

"Stay in my aaaarms if you dare, or must I imagine you there? Don't walk away from me..." she had one hand on the steering wheel and one hand out in front of her.

Her face was getting a little too comical for him to keep it together. He snorted out in laughter as Whitney Houston continued to croon in the background.

Hinata jumped and cringed away from him. "Y-you're awake?" she had choked in horror.

"My music stopped while I was asleep, so I could hear you."

She hunched her shoulders in embarrassment. "Crap."

"Don't let me stop you," Sasuke continued chortling. "I didn't know you had a thing for eighties' love songs."

Narrowing her eyes, she reached over to shut off the volume.

"So..." Sasuke asked with a smirk. "Is that your song for Naruto?"

Hinata glared at him from the corner of her eye. "Shut up."

"Heh," he grinned. "Good morning to you, too."

* * *

 _(1) This is going to be as modern-day as possible haha_

 _(2) If you wanna know what part Hinata is singing, go to 2:43 on Spotify. "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston. LOL_


	3. Chapter 3

They agreed to stop and get breakfast before continuing the drive. Hinata wanted some pancakes, but her suggestion at stopping by a drive-through McDonald's to get something to eat while they drove was turned down by an adamant Sasuke.

"Absolutely NO food in the car."

She had frowned at him. "It'll be quicker."

 _Ugh._ She was right. The trip would go by way faster if they didn't stop too much. But the thought of one drop of syrup or one tiny particle of pancake crumb even touching his smooth, leather seats was enough to make him grimace. And his stomach growl at the thought of food.

"Fine," Sasuke relented. He hadn't eaten since before they had left yesterday. "One hour tops. Then we're out."

"IHOP's fine?" Hinata asked happily, a shine gleaming in her eyes as she drove. They roamed up and down the sides of the highway, searching for signs directing them to food.

"Whatever."

It was quiet in the little IHOP by the freeway they had stopped at. The early morning sun shined in on them through the huge windows, greeting the few travelers inside. Sasuke's dark eyes scanned the tables and chairs inside the building, noting the tired truckers eating their breakfasts enthusiastically. The sound of the cars whizzing by outside and the soft murmur of the conversation was strangely comforting. Sasuke forgot how relaxing eating a proper breakfast was. He usually wasn't bothered to eat anything in the morning, except for the coffee he or Shikamaru made before their classes.

His eyes turned towards his driving companion across the table in front of him. She was warming her hands around a big, steaming mug of hot chocolate, blowing on it to cool the hot liquid inside.

"Hot chocolate? In the morning?" he had asked her with a raised brow after the waitress had taken their orders.

"Anytime is hot chocolate time," Hinata had replied. "Besides, if I have coffee, I'll stay up. But it's your turn to drive."

Sasuke took a sip of his coffee. Black. ( _Like your heart_ , Naruto's voice had sung in his head). No cream, no sugar. He had never seen anyone as excited to see chocolate sprinkles on a huge mountain of whipped cream. Even now, her eyes were sparkling as she drank her cocoa.

Hinata caught him grimacing at her.

"What?" She glanced down at her cup.

Sasuke gestured at her nose. "You got... a little.."

"Oh!" Hinata's fingertips met the cream that had settled on her nose. She laughed once, reaching for a napkin. "Don't like sweets?"

"Nope." Both of his brows shot up and he pursed his lips. "I noticed that you do."

"Yeah," Hinata admitted, right as the waitress came back with their food.

"Cinnamon roll french toast," the pretty waitress announced with a smile, setting the plate down in front of Hinata. "With extra whipped cream and chocolate chips."

Hinata clasped her hands in front of her excitedly. "Yes. Thank you!"

"And one egg, tomato, and cheese omelette, side of sourdough toast, bacon, and hash browns," she turned to Sasuke.

Sasuke grunted his thanks.

"Anything else I can get you?" the waitress asked.

Hinata answered for the both of them. "Maybe some ketchup, Sasuke-kun? For your eggs?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Alright! I'll be right back." The waitress stopped to fill up Sasuke's empty coffee cup. "Enjoy."

Hinata reached for her fork and knife.

"So if you don't like sweets, what do you like?" she asked, placing her napkin on her lap and bring her french toast closer to her. "What's your favorite food?"

"Omusubi," he answered. He sliced into his omelette and took a bite. "With okaka and tomatoes." He swallowed. _Hm. Not bad_ , he thought, nodding to himself in appreciation. Sasuke looked over at Hinata.

Her eyes were rolling to the back of her head. "Mmmm, so good," she mumbled, mouth filled with food.

He fought the urge to make another face. "Yours?"

Hinata put a hand to her mouth as she swallowed. After washing it down with more hot chocolate, she pointed down toward her plate. "Cinnamon rolls. And zenzai."

He grabbed the pepper and began sprinkling it over his eggs and hash browns. "Least favorite?"

"Crabs and shrimp." Now it was Hinata's turn to make a face. "Yours?"

"Well," he said, eyeing her food. "Anything sweet. And natto."

* * *

"...um..." Hinata hummed thoughtfully. "A lion." They had continued their game of questions after they had left the restaurant, full and content.

Sasuke raised a brow and looked over at her lounging in the passenger side, her oversized shirt with Snorlax's face slipping off one shoulder. "A lion?" Her hair was back up in a messy ponytail and she was in the middle of pulling a stray strand with her fingers as she thought.

"Yeah." She blushed a little. "Although I also love wolves and dogs, probably because of Kiba-kun and Akamaru-kun. It was a hard decision."

"You don't seem like a lioness," he pointed out. He had found that they were complete opposites on almost every subject.

"Excuse me?" Her white eyes narrowed. She stopped playing with her hair and crossed her arms.

"More like a...scary kitten," Sasuke amended after a little smirk. _A cute, little thing with claws that could hurt if you rubbed it the wrong way_ , he finished silently to himself. _Wait. Cute?_

"Oh really?" His companion countered. "What's your favorite animal, then Sas-koneko-chan?"

Sasuke thought for a minute, a scowl forming as he came to his answer. Snakes were crossed off his list, even though he worked a lot with them under his sensei.

She gave him a smug smile. "Don't think I didn't see you checking your cats on your Neko Atsume app."

He could feel his own cheeks start to heat up in embarrassment and he clenched the steering wheel a little tighter. "Yeah, yeah. I like cats, I guess. I used to help this old lady in my neighborhood growing up and she had a lot of cats."

"So we can both agree we hold the feline family close to our hearts, then." Sasuke could see her studying him after she let out a triumphant laugh. "I could see you as a... languid panther, maybe." she continued. "Dark and scary."

"If you think so," he shrugged as he watched the road. "So. Next question. Do you like - ?"

He was interrupted with the beginning of the Venga Boys' _Boom Boom Boom_ chorus blaring from Hinata's phone.

Hinata's face went red immediately as she clumsily fumbled for her phone in the cup holder. "Freaking Kiba-kun!" The slippery surface of her sleek Sailor Moon phone case had it falling to the car floor.

"Boom Boom Boom Boom, I want you in my room!" her phone sang.

"Dammit!" she cried. "I hate when he changes my ringtone!"

Sasuke started to snort in laughter, watching her dark blue head as she searched for her phone under her seat with her fingers.

The song was abruptly cut off. "H-Hello?" she answered breathlessly. Her face was as red as tomato and her hair stuck up every which way.

"Hi, Naruto-kun," she greeted, a big smile plastering on her face for a second before turning to Sasuke with a glare.

He continued to snicker, leaning all the way to the left in his seat against the driver's side window away from her as he drove.

"It's going okay," Hinata replied. Her forehead smoothed out, but her eyes returned to Sasuke's face as she listened to the voice on the other side of the phone.

She giggled. "No. He's not being a bastard. Not really." Hinata leaned back in her seat. She stretched her legs out in front of her.

"Feet. Off the dashboard," Sasuke growled.

Her legs were snatched back quickly, but not before Sasuke saw how long and smooth they were and caught the sunflower designs on her toenails.

"Okay," Hinata pressed a button on her phone and suddenly Naruto's voice filled the car. "Hey, teme!"

"Dobe?" came Sasuke's automatic reply.

"What time do you think you'll get here?"

He rolled his eyes. "We just left yesterday, idiot."

"I know that, ya asshole," came Naruto's voice. Hinata fought to suppress a giggle. "I just wanna know if I'll still be taking my finals by the time you get here, sheesh."

"Uh," Sasuke thought for a moment. "Well, we left on Friday so..." He looked over at Hinata, who was also calculating the days in her head.

"Maybe... late Wednesday?" she asked.

"Early Thursday," he agreed. "Something like that."

"Perfect! Right on time," Naruto said excitedly. "Can't wait to see your ugly face, teme!"

"Same to you, fucker," came Sasuke's endearing sneer.

They heard Naruto laugh boisterously, before turning his attention back to his girlfriend. "Talk to you soon, Hinata. Love ya."

"I love you, too, N-Naruto-kun," she stammered, that blush growing back. She ducked her head in embarrassment as Naruto ended the call, with a final, "Drive safe, butthead! Be nice to Hinata!" to Sasuke.

"Oh, please," Sasuke muttered to himself. "I'm nice."

Hinata blew out air from her mouth in a huff, her bangs fluffing up as she did so. "Anyway!"

"Anyway..." he repeated.

Hinata's face scrunched up and silence filled the car for a few minutes. Her eyes lit up and she turned towards her driver asking, "Fire type or water type?"

Sasuke smiled a little. '"Fire." He was a little bit of a pyromaniac.

"So you'd pick a Charmander over a Squirtle?"

"Of course," he replied smoothly.

Another pause. "First gen or second gen?"

"Ooh, that's a hard one." He tapped the wheel as he came up with his answer. "I'd say - "

"If you were a Pokemon trainer, what Pokemon would you have?" she interrupted a little excitedly. "You could only choose six, and your starter would be Charmander." She cocked her head as she thought. "First gen only, any type. No legendary."

He smirked. Little did anyone know, he had thought this through as thoroughly as he could ever since he was a child. He was always prepared. "Well, first of all, I would choose... (1)"

* * *

"I don't think I can hold it in!" Hinata had a death grip on the passenger door and on her seatbelt. Sasuke could see her bouncing in her seat. They had been driving almost nonstop since breakfast, mostly lost in their conversation that had revolved around Pokemon since Hinata had first brought it up. They had stopped two times, once to use the restroom and fill up on gas, and the second time to grab a quick dinner at Taco Bell. The sun was already beginning to set again. They had even did hypothetical Pokemon battles with their Pokemon of choice, one generation after another. He had to admit that Hinata knew her Pokemon. Although he wasn't sure why she picked a lot of 'cute' ones. ("They're strong, too!" she had defended.)

"We're almost there." Sasuke urged with a horrified look on his face. "Please don't piss on my seats."

She stopped her bouncing to give him a flat stare. "Am I a dog?"

"Uh," he met her eyes quickly before turning his attention back to the road. "Think about something else."

"Like what?" Hinata began bouncing again and crossed her legs a little tighter. Her head swiveled around as she followed a sign with her eyes. "Oh, no," she moaned. "Another 20 minutes to the next rest stop?!"

"I dunno, anything."

"I can't!" She gasped. "Just pull over!"

"What?!"

"I'll go over there!" she pointed to the few trees and shrubs at the side of the road.

"Oh my god, are you serious?" Sasuke asked her in disbelief.

"Yes!" she squealed. "I _have_ to go!"

Sasuke threw on his turn signal and swerved towards the shoulder of the road.

"Ah, damn," Hinata groaned. "I wish I was a boy." She threw open the door after grabbing some Kleenex from her backpack and sprinted into the trees.

Sasuke relaxed. Cross _that_ off the list of things he never expected to happen.

* * *

 _(1) Haha! Cliffhanger. What Pokemon_ would _Sasuke choose? I wanted to leave it up to your imagination ;)_

 _A/N: Hey everyone. I have the plot kinda planned out with what I want to include in this fic. Trying to pump out a chapter before I start my new job. What do you like to do on road trips? Let me know! Maybe I'll incorporate it into this fic. Thanks for reading! xoxo_


	4. Chapter 4

"Can you quit taking pictures of me?" Sasuke groaned after another camera shutter went off. He tore his eyes off the road to glare at her in the passenger seat. Another night had came and went, and they had managed to switch off. Hinata ended up taking the night drives, and Sasuke the day drives. They had just stopped for a quick bite to eat at a Starbucks they had passed on the highway. When she had gotten her daily dose of sugary drinks and treats, they had settled themselves back in the car. Her in the passenger seat to try to catch up on some sleep, and Sasuke at the wheel. But ever since they had left, she seemed to have been on her phone the whole time. Texting, it looked like, and snapping pictures. Sasuke would have been fine with it, except for it looked like the phone's camera was pointed at him. A lot.

"I'm letting Snapchat know who's responsible for my death in case we crash," came her reply after she had ignored him for a few seconds and typed something into her phone with her thumbs.

"Ah, yes, Snapchat," he nodded sarcastically. "A place where I can keep up with my friends' lives even if I don't want to."

Hinata raised her head to look at him. "You have one?"

Sasuke leaned his elbow on the driver's window, propping his chin on the palm of his hand. "Yes, unfortunately."

She looked at him thoughtfully. "Hm... I only saw you on other people's Snapchats, but I never knew you had one yourself. Do you post anything?" She tried to straighten the sleeves of the baggy sweater she had only put her arms through to combat the cool morning air.

"Rarely," he replied. "But that goes for every social media account I have."

Hinata gaped. "You have social media?"

He scoffed. "Not by choice, really. There are just some annoying people who like to take my phone."

She gave him a wide smile. "Let me add you then!"

"That's not necessary."

Her face fell and she frowned. "Oh, come on."

"There's nothing you need to know about my life."

"Obviously," Hinata rolled her eyes. "But I still want to see." She kept an expectant face towards him.

He paused for a few seconds before side-eyeing her and letting out a breath of air. "Okay, for almost every social media account I have, Naruto made up, like, all the names."

"Yeah, okay." She shrugged happily. "Kiba-kun and Hanabi made some of mine. So tell me what yours are so I can add you." Hinata leaned back comfortably in the chair. "Alright. Instagram?"

"Feet. Off the dashboard," He ordered as he saw her legs start to come up. She snatched them back quickly and put them in a criss-cross position instead. Sasuke hunched over as he drove. " _SassyUchiha_ (1)," he mumbled, after a sigh.

After a few minutes of her silently on her phone, he glanced over at her.

"Snapchat?"

Another sigh. " _Uchihottie_."

She snorted, her bangs fluffing up in the process. He glanced over at her, catching her lips twitching. "Let me guess. You have a tumblr."

"Yeah - I do."

"Angst?"

"Not angst. Life." He shot back defensively.

"Angst it is," she said under breath. "What's your URL?"

Sasuke jutted his chin out childishly. "Not telling you."

"Oh, come on. I'll tell you mine," she said, waving her phone in the air.

"Nope."

"Fine." She made a face at him.

Her thumbs kept tapping away on her phone. "I'm making you a Twitter account."

"For what? I'm really never on anything much anyway."

She ignored him. "Okay, here I go. First name, Sasuke. Last name. Uchiha. Username." Hinata looked up to the car ceiling as she thought. "Hmmm." Her phone tapped her chin. "Sasuke. Uchiha. Sauce. U." Her eyes lit up. "! know!" She started to type again. "Saucin...on...you!" She laughed.

Sasuke scrunched up his face. "What? How does that make sense?"

"Here." Hinata held the phone towards him and Sasuke looked over at her phone to read, "Uchiha Sasuke, _SaucinOnU_."

He shrugged. "Clever."

She nodded. "It is."

"I assume you're following me on all my accounts at this point?"

"Yup." Her lips popped with the 'p' sound. "But since you're private, you have to add me back later. For now, I'll follow people for you on Twitter!"

It was quiet in the car except for the soft Celine Dion music that was playing from her phone and the occasional notification sounds alerting her to new messages. She giggled from time to time and reached her phone out to show him a funny meme or picture. There were also times where he would hear a quick Snapchat video playing or she would reply with a video of her own.

"What are you doing?" he asked when there was a longer period of silence than usual. He reached for the water bottle in the cup holder, bringing it up to his lips to take a drink.

She was curled up in the passenger seat, her head on the armest of the door, laying on her sweater with her phone in front of her face. "Going through your tumblr."

Sasuke choked, nearly spitting out all the contents in his mouth out. "How the fuck did you get my tumblr?!"

She grinned at him. "Itachi-san."

"You know my brother?" He gaped at her in disbelief, cursing his brother silently in his head.

"Yes, kinda. Well, actually Neji-nii-san knows him more because of my father and your father. But he gave me his number in case I ever needed help, since he was also my one of my mentors. Don't you remember that big brother thing we did when we were freshman? When all the business majors got together and we got big brothers to help us like with our classes and stuff?"

"No?"

"You probably weren't interested in it," Hinata waved him off. "But I ended up with your brother."

"That traitor," Sasuke mumbled as Hinata kept reading on her phone with that smug look on her face. "I should have never told him anything."

It wasn't until after Hinata drove later that night until Sasuke was able to accept her friend requests from all her social media. They had stopped for their dinner and routine fill of gas/head to the bathroom.

 _sunshinehimee has requested to follow you Instagram_. The small, circular profile picture seemed to be of a slim girl against a white wall in a large sunhat that covered her face and a lavender sundress, clutching a bright yellow sunflower. Purple tendrils of her long, shiny hair surrounded her as they were lifted in a breeze. Sasuke raised his brow. It was an impressive picture. The description box was simply her name, Hyuuga Hinata, and an emoji of a sun. As he accepted her request, he began stalking her. She was quite the photographer. There were a lot of minimalist pictures of objects, polaroid shots, landscapes, scenery, and parts of people that she was close with. There was a picture of a tuft of Naruto's blonde hair against a clear, sunny sky and green grass,and another one with just one side of Kiba's tattooed face. There was a photo of a silhouette of Shikamaru's ponytail and a child against a breathtaking sunset of red, violet, gold, and orange. There were never any pictures of herself, and when there were, her face was covered, just like her profile picture, or she was turned away. It was just her signature violet hair that told of her presence. It was only when he went into her tagged pictures that he saw her face, and they were mostly on Ino's account.

He looked at her for a quick second from where she was driving with a relaxed expression her face, her lips moving as she mouthed the lyrics to every song that played from her playlist.

Sasuke turned his attention back towards his phone as he exited the Instagram app and pressed on the Facebook one instead. He input his login information and groaned immediately as he saw the red notification blaring at him. 239 friend requests. This is why he hated Facebook. This was the one social media site that everyone and their mother could find him if they knew his first and last name, which is why he was kinda sorta grateful for Naruto's and Itachi's quirky names they had given him for other accounts. He searched quickly for Hinata. Hyuuga Hinata. He pressed confirm and quickly logged off. He wasn't going to go on Facebook again for a very long time.

"Okay, we're friends now."

She looked over at him. "Are we?"

"On Facebook," he clarified.

He kept his eyes on his phone and placed his thumb on the bright yellow app. Usually he hated going on Snapchat because it was mostly Naruto sending him a loud, obnoxious video like "GOOOOOOOD MORNING bastard!" every day while he was on the toilet, or taking a sneaky picture of Sakura's or some other girl's nonexistent ass, or pictures with vulgar drawings on it, or different variations of ramen. Or it was Karin or Sakura or Ino sending him suggestive pictures that he wasn't interested in. The only good thing he liked about Snapchat was that it was a quick way for him to send his brother a pic of something he thought interesting or replying to Naruto's dumb ass, and that the filters were _sometimes_ amusing and entertaining. So he logged on anyway and ignored all the pictures and videos that were sent to him. _hinahime has added you as a friend_.

"Hinahime?" Sasuke asked, an smile playing on his lips.

"It was Kiba-kun," she insisted.

"Sure, princess," he mumbled as he pressed the add button to add her. Sasuke went to his stories page and refreshed it, waiting for Hinata's name to pop up. _Recent updates, Uzumaki Naruto, Yamanaka Ino, Uzumaki Karin, Hozuki Suigetsu, Akimichi Chouji, Hyuuga Hinata_. He pressed on Hinata's name.

The first one was a video. "Ohaiyooo!" came Hinata's excited whisper as the camera focused on her face and messy hair. She was driving and the sun's morning light was beginning to stream through the car windows. "Road trip day 3 with this sleeping beauty right here!" Sasuke watched as Hinata glanced over to her passenger with a grin and a giggle. The camera then turned and focused on himself, obviously asleep. He was laying against the chair's headrest, his headphones in, his mouth open ever so slightly. A small snore erupted and the camera returned quickly to the Hyuuga girl. Her eyes darting back towards him and the camera as her giggle cut off.

"You didn't," came Sasuke's monotone threat.

Hinata choked on her laughter. "Oops."

Sasuke gave her a warning sneer. "You're gonna regret that. What else did you post?" He continued her story. There was another video of the passing scenery of the road, one of herself cross-eyed with a dog filter that made her look cute, and another video of herself lip syncing Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" through a tomato filter. He had to look away at this point. He just admitted that she was cute and when she was a tomato, it somehow made her just a little more appealing.

Sasuke pressed his lips together. The other shots were of her cupcake and s'mores frappuccino with various stickers plastered all over it.

He turned the camera on himself, searching for the tomato filter, and pressed the button to film a video of his own. He glared at the camera and let the filter transform his face. "If you ever need to drive somewhere," he said, tomatoes plopping out of his mouth. "Don't ever go with Hyuuga Hinata." He then turned the camera to her as she looked up with a quizzical expression after hearing her name.

"Huh?" she asked, glancing at the camera. The filter captured her face and she turned into a tomato herself, tomatoes plopping out of her own mouth as she gaped at him.

They looked at each other for a second and burst out laughing. Somehow, just the sound of the plopping tomatoes was enough to get them started again, especially after they watched the video. Sasuke ended up posting it to his story.

It wasn't too long while he was browsing other people's stories when he got a reply from Naruto.

"Temeeeee," came his voice as the video showed Naruto at his desk with headphones on. "Stop being a dick to Hinataaaaa!"

Hinata laughed in response, pulling up her left leg on the seat and relaxing into the cushions as she drove.

Sasuke shook his head as he closed out of Snapchat. It took him a couple of minutes as he waited for the Twitter app to download.

"So, what's the big deal about Twitter? Why is it so interesting?"

Hinata shrugged. "It's just a way to keep up with your friends, like everyone else. Witty saying, reactions, statements, opinions. I'm sure your Twitter would be a hit."

"Why is that?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Because you act like you know everything and everyone like falls down at your feet and acts like everything that comes out of your mouth is the word of God."

He gave her a blank stare and she gave him one back.

"Jealous that your boyfriend thinks so highly of me?"

She rolled her eyes and he smirked, looking down at this phone to open the Twitter app. "You didn't add any fangirls or fanclubs did you?"

"Trust me, I wouldn't do that to you," she said, shuddering a little. "Neji-nii-san used to have a lot of those."

"Good," he said. Sasuke scrolled through the names, noting that they were his close groups of friends, his old classmates from elementary and high school days, as well as some close teachers and family members, nodding to himself in approval as he accepted follower requests. Finally he came across Gentle Fists, _hinahearts_.

He snorted. "Gentle Fists?"

He caught Hinata making a face. "Kiba-kun. Again, dammit." She shook her head. "He made my Twitter so he knows all my login information.

"Interesting," Sasuke said with an amused smile as he went through her account.

There was a short pause.

"You're just retweeting pictures of cute animals and videos of random things."

She gave a sheepish laugh. "Yeah, I don't really know what to say. But I follow people who do!"

He clicked on his own account. She had already put a picture of him as his avatar. It was dark side profile of him, a shadow against the bright sunshine of the car windows, his signature long bangs and messy hair the only suggestion that it was him. "Not bad."

"Huh?"

"The avatar."

"Oh, thanks." Hinata shrugged. "Feel free to update your profile."

He read the information quickly. _Uchiha Sasuke. Hates to smile. Likes long walks on the beach. Obsessed with my brother. Don't bother me. Carpe diem._

He sucked in a sharp breath and closed his eyes, his eyebrow twitching in annoyance. Hinata was struggling to hide her giggles.

"I'm sorry?" she managed to say as she guffawed into her arm.

Sasuke didn't say anything as he kept his nostrils flared and lips pressed together, deleting all the information except his name.

"Or would you have preferred, 'Mess with me and you'll be sharin-gone'?"

"Shut. Up." Sasuke bit out. He glared at her from the corner of his eyes, watching her body shake with silent laughter. Truthfully, it was pretty funny, but he wasn't going to let her have the glory. "You are never going to be in charge of anything again."

"Yes, sir."

Sasuke proceeded to browse his Twitter feed. There were some posts from Naruto complaining about studying, one about how he couldn't believe anyone would hate living off of instant ramen because it was "THE BEST", thumbs up emoji, ramen emoji, delicious-tongue-sticking-out emoji, five naruto emojis. He groaned and closed the app.

Next was tumblr. He logged on and saw immmediately, _1 new follower, taiyotsukihoshi._

"I admire the poetry in your angst," Hinata stated sincerely.

"It's not angst, it's LIFE," he repeated.

"And your aesthetic is on point," she nodded appreciatively as she ignored him.

Sasuke sighed in exasperation, clicking on the link to her profile. It was plain, just white and minimalist, except for a few gif, pictures, and long posts. Description: _Welcome to my sunny place. Just your daily dose of sunlight._ It was much like her Instagram. He scrolled through her blog for a bit before he came across an anon asking, _How did you come up with your URL? Love your blog xoxo._ taiyotsukihoshi replied: _Thank you so much, anon! Well, my name means "sunny place." But I never used to see myself as one to shine as brightly as the sun. I tried, but I didn't seem to as much as some people I know. Compared to them, I saw myself as something not as bright, like the moon, or the stars. I realized that I get a lot of inspiration from the sun and sunny days. I'm trying to learn that I can shine if I wanted to, and even if it's only like the moon and stars at night, I know now that I'm still shining, and I'm just as bright to someone else, even if it's not myself. Someday maybe I'll get to take my place in the sun. I'm still working on it. ;)_

"Your blog is the positivity to my angst," he stated after a while.

She thought about his words for a bit. "Yeah, well it's just a place I go for encouragement and reflection."

"I reflect, too," Sasuke responded. "I just have more negative views on things, I guess."

"That's fair."

Sasuke scrolled through her blog a little longer before catching mangacaps of one his favorite manga. "You read _Naruvo_ (2), too?" he asked in what looked like disbelief.

She turned to him quickly, her eyes wide in anticipation. "Yes! It's my favorite ninja manga ever!" Hinata deflated a bit. "I mean it used to be, before it ended."

Sasuke nodded. "The ending was horrible. All the characters were ruined! And who the hell thought it was a good idea to end it so that every character was paired up? Just to make a new series and make more money?" His brows furrowed. "My favorite character Ochiwa Tatsuke (3) was just shit on."

"Exactly!" She agreed as she waved her arms animatedly. "That's what I was thinking! Nothing was resolved! It just seemed like the whole manga and everything Naruvo went through was a waste because it didn't even matter at the end! I have a whole side-blog dedicated to it and I just like rant and analyze stuff."

He gave her a curious look. "You do? I do, too." He admitted a little embarrassed.

"No way! You have to follow me! I just have to know what you think about that bullshit!"

He had never seen her talk with that much passion and she seemed wide awake now, her eyes flashing with emotion.

As she began her rant, and they continued the night drive, Sasuke wondered in awe at the power of social media. Who knew tumblr would have led him to discuss his favorite manga? He was a closeted fan and he would have never admitted it to anyone ever if Hinata hadn't launched into this discussion. He thought he'd probably keep himself updated from now on. Plus - those Snapchat filters, though.

* * *

 _(1) Sorry if these are actual account names! Any resemblance whatsoever is unintentional._

 _(2) Hahaha_

 _(3) You get it right? I just like imagining the Naruto characters mad at their own fate in the manga because they deserve so much more, especially my Sasuke love._


End file.
